Hyundai first out with Android Auto — last rites for in-dash GPS navigation? [UPDATED]

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(Update 5/28/15 12:12pm ET: Added information on the update for current 2015 Sonata owners at the bottom of the post.)

Hyundai today became the first of many automakers — and eventually, every automaker — to link directly to a smartphone for services such as navigation. Hyundai’s announcement is for Android Auto on the Hyundai Sonata. The driver controls the smartphone using voice input plus the center stack and steering wheel knobs, buttons, and touchscreen. Navigation via Google Maps is the headliner app. Users also benefit from tight integration with other apps such as Google Now to show upcoming appointments on the center stack display.

Cars with Apple CarPlay will follow (Chevrolet announced the next day, May 27), and most or all automakers will offer both. Offering one and not the other would be a quick way to lose sales. Both let you run selected apps, but far from all of them. Apps that aren’t selected for Android Auto or CarPlay integration are locked out as long as the phone is plugged in via the USB jack. In other words, they’re acting as benevolent censors.

How Hyundai implements Android Auto

The 2015 Hyundai Sonata is the first model in the Hyundai line to get Android Auto and compatibility covers the 50,000 or so Sonatas already built. Don’t assume this to be the case for other cars built before the manufacturer’s announcement date. Other Hyundai models will follow, perhaps starting with the Hyundai Tucson model changeover this summer.

According to Hyundai, owners will need to be running the Android 5.0 Lollipop OS (or later) and the Android Auto companion app on their phone. The phone must be connected via USB. On the Sonata, Android Auto works with cars with the 8-inch touchscreen display, the one that comes with Hyundai navigation. Expect automakers to start offering big screens, sans navi, and maybe save buyers $500-$1,000.

If your car was purchased before the Android Auto announcement, you can download the car app to a USB key and install it yourself. Or you can take it to the dealer. Cars already at the dealership should be upgraded before delivery.

For many apps, especially Google Maps, you may find the phone experience superior. It will also use the car’s embedded GPS receiver to fine-tune your location. Hop in the car and once your phone is connected, Google Now shows any upcoming appointments. Google will provide a conversational search tool far simpler than issuing a structured command to the car’s voice input system, or playing with the touchscreen speller. If you want to find sushi or a shoe repair shop, Android Auto should be the way to go.

When texts come in, you get a chime or beep, the sender name appears onscreen, and you get the choice to have the message read aloud, but not displayed on-screen. (A handful of cars that now receive texts let users see the text messages on-screen as well as the header.) Expect some criticism from others who think nobody should get any texts in the car, even spoken. More users may have concerns about being unable to disable the routine, often meaningless, notifications from apps (not texting apps) that pop up and, at least initially, can’t be disabled.

Curb your enthusiasm

What apps Google supports — the same goes for Apple — should be outstanding. The screen display is similar to what’s on your phone; it may be slightly different and more robust, even, as the app scales to take advantage of Sonata’s 8-inch display. The biggest challenge may be the number of apps that aren’t supported. They’re also locked out. You cannot access them without disconnecting the phone from the car. If you like Waze better than Google Maps for traffic information, sorry, but it’s not supported, at least not now. Even though Google owns Waze.

For apps already in your infotainment system that don’t have a similar, and approved, Android Auto app, you’ll have to switch between Android Auto infotainment and car infotainment. This part of the experience isn’t quite seamless yet.

The end of $1,000 nav systems

Once Android Auto and CarPlay take off, there’ll be pressure on automakers to seriously cut the price of embedded navigation, which has the advantage of always being ready to go, even if you forget or drop your phone, or the cable stops working. Navigation in cars cost as much as $2,800 in the late 1990s and most is now in the $500-$1,500 range, but it’s unclear buyers will see value even in $500 navi, especially if Google Maps is easier to talk to.

In the end, customers benefit from choice. Automakers had been using the center stack and infotainment system to differentiate their car from competitors. Some of that uniqueness may go away. Users may not care, and they may prefer if Android Auto looks more or less the same across car brands.

Hyundai announcement on upgrade availability (be patient)

Several readers have said their Hyundai dealers were not immediately up to speed on offering upgrade assistance for Sonata owners on this first week of the announcement. Here’s what Hyundai corporate has to say for owners dying to run Android Auto on their 2015 Sonatas:

“Owners of existing 2015 Sonatas with Navigation can get the Android Auto software update free of charge at Hyundai dealers starting today [May 26-ed.]. Later this summer, owners can visit www.hyundaiusa.com/myhyundai and download the Android Auto software onto a USB memory drive. Owners will need a MyHyundai account to start the Android Auto download. A MyHyundai account requires name, address and a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Once the USB with the Android Auto software is inserted into their Sonata’s USB port, it will automatically update the vehicle’s Navigation system to make it Android Auto compatible. The Android Auto compatible Navigation system with an eight-inch touchscreen display is available on the Sonata Sport, Eco, Limited, Sport 2.0T and Limited 2.0T models,” says Hyundai.

Tagged In

So, where do you place your smartphone? Will there be a dedicated and softlined universal box or something? What about GPS signal quality if you slide your device deep into the dashboard?

Daniel Glass

I think what’d be better in the long run is, instead of these stupid OS-restricted platforms, create a single car touchscreen, GPS antenna, audio, speakerphone etc interface standard that all run off the smartphone as peripherals via a USB port instead of having to limit which car or phone OS you buy based on what the head unit supports.

Marco

I’d like to see the car have the location and gyro chips built in and be able to pass that information to the phone’s software. It is cheap and allows you to always have the best location and acceleration data possible, as you could guarantee that the antenna is places for optimum signal reception, rather than somewhere inside your car, which inherently degrades your accuracy. The phone and its software can still do the heavy lifting, but with better and more reliable data.

Tom

Very good source of assisted GPS data as well, since the car has its own array of accelerometers, not to mention atmospheric pressure sensing (useful for altitude), and the ABS and stability control systems monitoring the activity of the wheels and the car’s direction of travel. I believe some automakers already use this information to make their onboard GPS surprisingly responsive and accurate.

sferrin

You could probably just keep it in your pocket. I have a Hyundai and the car is paired with my phone and synchs up whenever I turn the car on with the phone in Bluetooth range. Now if they’re also doing away with the in-dash screen (which I would hope they would NOT do) that’s another thing. You definitely don’t want to try to be reading a cell-phone sized screen driving down the road.

jqpabc123

Everything is on my phone. All I need from a car is a Bluetooth connection to the stereo.

Plyphon

The one thing in car nav has over streaming via phone is the ability to store maps on a HDD. My car has the whole of Western Europe on it’s HDD, which means I can load a map even in the most remote places and I only need a GPS connection.

Not to mention data – streaming map data can eat up your plan. Maps on mobile are great for finding a restaurant in a city, but less ideal for doing actual cross country navigation.

EDIT: Sure you could keep it on your phone, it’s about 5/6GB so not too big, but that is a large chunk of most peoples phones. Especially older devices.

Daniel Glass

As a WP8 user I’ve got locally stored maps too, and they actually get regular updates without having to do anything special, like pay the $140 a year for an SD card with updates like my aftermarket head unit needs.

Plyphon

Yeh, I’ve just been caught with that one. Luckily if you’re resourceful and don’t mind bending a rule or two there are places you can find the updates for your vehicle for free.

Bill Howard

My understanding is that map data costs more for different device types, and it kind of seems to track with the cost of the GPS system. Automakers pay a lot more for their map data for embedded GPS than someone does who builds a $99 portable nav device.

Daniel Glass

Standalone devices are often made by one of the mapping services anyways – most of which get their core map data from Nokia’s Here services.

Sushma Gupta

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